Field
The disclosure relates to a method in which multiple geographically distributed solid core biopsies can be obtained simultaneously alongside with simultaneous fiducial marker placement. The disclosure also relates to similar methods along with the systems and techniques for accomplishing the preferred methods in addition to disclosure of additional applications.
Description of Related Art
Systemic and locally directed therapy targeting specific organs or tissue often requires a tissue sample to be performed through localization by physical examination, intraoperative visualization or image guided procedures in order to diagnose disease (e.g., cancer, organ failure, infection, etc.) and predict or prognosticate what type of therapy should ensue. Oftentimes within the targeted tissue, variability and inhomogeneity exists thus potentially limiting the utility of a single pass sample or biopsy that is performed in a linear fashion. As a result, multiple passes and multiple localizations of the targeted tissue must be conducted in order to provide adequate representation of the variability of the targeted tissue, which is either unachievable with current linear biopsy methods or may require multiple localizations of the tissue resulting in increased risk, decreased reliability and inadequate sampling.
In addition, during the course of biopsy, confirmation of the region of biopsy is required to confirm the region of sample, and anticipate further therapy such as external radiation beam therapy, or surgery. However current manifestations of marker placement and localization require a completely separate procedure, with separate methods and devices which may result in increased complication rates, prolonged patient discomfort and prolonged operating time.
A number of patents in the prior art describe acquisition of multiple core biopsy samples obtained in a linear fashion resulting in repeated sampling of a targeted region without the ability to further steer/direct or sample other geographic regions without manipulating the entire device or repeating the procedure. Other devices describe extracting tissue samples in a non-linear fashion through the maceration and homogenization of tissue, thus destroying tissue architecture which may be essential for proper diagnosis and also result in seeding of potential tumor cells outside of the original location of interest.